A “Mega Lune” Is Coming to the CBD

“The Cube” is Lune’s name for the temperature-controlled, fishbowl-like raw pastry kitchen at the centre of its flagship stores in Fitzroy and Sydney. The Cube was Established in 2015, when Lune moved from a small shop in Elwood to its Fitzroy site, and, according to founder Kate Reid, is part of what made her croissant brand so successful. “We created a gallery-esque space for croissants. We didn’t just fill every single square metre with equipment or tables or storage. We almost had to do Fitzroy to make it grow into this world-class, iconic brand.”

A year later, the New York Times wrote that Lune croissants “may be the finest you will find anywhere in the world”. The hype was sustained, and the brand now has three stores in Melbourne, two in Sydney and two in Brisbane, plus an Evi O-designed cookbook. 

Early next year, Lune will open a new Melbourne CBD store. The 418-square-metre “mega Lune”, as Reid puts it, at the bottom of the Ritz-Carlton will make the bakery’s home city the first with two production sites. For the eighth Lune, the team has taken all the lessons learned from each store to maximise flow, back-of-house space and storage, and to make sure it’s able to provide the best experience for customers.

When people line up on the corner of Spencer and Lonsdale streets – and let’s face it, there will be lines – they’ll be able to look into The Cube and see pastry chefs making dough, laminating pastry and shaping croissants. It’s part of “Project Lune Line”, something Reid says the team has been focusing on for the past couple of years. “Not all the Lune sites have queues, but typically the CBD ones do,” Reid says. “Your journey as a customer doesn’t start when you reach the counter, it starts when you get in the back of the queue.” 

Inside, the fit-out by In Addition has all the design details associated with the brand: black mirrored glass; a long concrete bench; stainless steel tables with stools and banquettes that can seat 50 guests. New here are the bluestone floor tiles, meant to reference the NGV, and the dropped lighting around the pastry display, inspired by runways. “We really wanted to bring [people’s eye] down from this very high ceiling to make it feel more intimate, but glamorous and special as well.”

The team had been talking about building a new production site for a couple of years before being approached by Far East Consortium, the building’s developers. The intention is not to service hypothetical additional stores, Reid says, but to increase production capacity for busy periods, including Easter, Christmas and July school holidays, when the team is “bursting at the seams” and currently unable to produce more than 5400 pastries per day. “We haven’t been able to meet the demand of our whole market here, but we also don’t need to become a bakery in every high street in Melbourne.” The new facility will also open up the possibility of Lune participating in more events like the Australian Open and the Grand Prix. 

Above all, Reid says, the bakery is a way to invest in the city that made Lune what it is. “We’re investing in Melbourne CBD and creating something really special. It’ll be an experience. It’s not just another bakery.”

Lune will open at 670 Lonsdale Street in early 2026.